It is a premise of a widely endorsed putative refutation of Anselm's ontological argument that ‘exists’ is not a predicate. This Note argues that although ‘exists’ has the superficial grammatical appearance of a predicate in the Proslogion, Anselm does not in fact rely on the premise that ‘exists’ is a logical predicate in his putative proof. It follows that even if some argument for the conclusion that ‘exists’ is not a predicate is sound, that argument is not a refutation of (...) Anselm's argument. (shrink)

The Subject in Question provides a fascinating insight into a debate between two of the twentieth century's most famous philosophers over the key notions of conscious experience and the self. Edmund Husserl, the father of phenomenology, argued that the unity of one's own consciousness depends on the "transcendental ego," an irreducible, essential self not available to ordinary consciousness. But in The Transcendence of the Ego , Jean-Paul Sartre launched a sustained attack on Husserl's doctrine and argued that the self is (...) instead a construct, a product of one's self-image in the eyes of others. In this first book-length commentary on Sartre's influential work, Stephen Priest explores Sartre's hostility to any essentialist conception of the self and sheds new light on the debates over consciousness, the legacy of Descartes and Kant, the nature of selfhood and personal identity, and the development of the phenomenological tradition. (shrink)

Western philosophy since Kant has been essentially operating within a Kantian anti-metaphysical paradigm. German-language philosophy, and a fortiori Husserl's phenomenology, is no exception to this. Here I argue that despite his putative eschewal of metaphysics in the phenomenological reduction or epoché Husserl deploys an ontological, even fundamental ontological, vocabulary and may be read as a metaphysician malgre lui . To the extent to which this interpretation is viable, one escape route from the critical paradigm would seem to be opened up.

In _De Spiritualitate et Immortalitate Animae Humanae Scotus distinguishes three senses of 'immaterial': x is immaterial if x depends upon nothing material, x is immaterial if x is unextended, x is immaterial if x is abstract. Pace Scotus: depending on nothing material is neither necessary nor sufficient for being immaterial, being unextended is not necessary but is sufficient for being immaterial, and being abstract is not necessary but is sufficient for being immaterial. The idea of immaterial existence is not incoherent. (...) God, the soul, numbers and universals can exist without a physical universe. (shrink)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty was the first French thinker to identify phenomenology with philosophy. He is known and celebrated as a renowned phenomenologist and was identified as a key figure in the existential movement. In his wide-ranging and penetrative study, Stephen Priest engages Merleau-Ponty across the full range of his thought. He considers Merleau-Ponty's writings on the problems of the body, perception, space, time, subjectivity. freedom, language, other minds, physical objects, art and being. Priest uses clear and direct language to explain the (...) thoughts and the ensuing importance of one of the greatest contemporary thinkers. Philosophy students and scholars alike will find great pleasure in this fascinating exploration of the writings and ideas of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. (shrink)

The Empiricists represent the central tradition in British philosophy as well as some of the most important and influential thinkers in human history. Their ideas paved the way for modern thought from politics to science, ethics to religion. The British Empiricists is a wonderfully clear and concise introduction to the lives, careers and views of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Mill, Russell, and Ayer. Stephen Priest examines each philosopher and their views on a wide range of topics including mind and matter, (...) ethics and emotions, freedom and the physical world, language, truth and logic. The book is usefully arranged so that it can be read by thinker or by topic, or as a history of key philosophical problems and equips the reader to: recognize and practice philosophical thinking understand the methods of solving philosophical problems used by the British Empiricists appreciate the role of empiricism in the history of Western philosophy. For any student new to philosophy, Western philosophy or the British Empiricists, this masterly survey offers an accessible engaging introduction. (shrink)

Despite the rapid growth of interest in Hegel among English-speaking philosophers, surprisingly little has been directed at Hegel's relationship toward Kant. This collection of essays by eleven eminent philosophers meets this deficiency by critically examining Hegel's attitude to Kant over a wide range of issues: the nature of space and time; the possibility of metaphysics, categories, and things-in-themselves; dialectic and the self; moral and political philosophy; aesthetics; the philosophy of history, and teleology. All the essays provide channels to a fuller (...) understanding of the forks of theoretical deviation between Hegel and Kant. (shrink)

Descartes maintained the doctrine attacked by hume and kant that the self is substance. Consciousness does not entail self-Consciousness for kant. The "i think" must be "capable" of accompanying my thoughts but does not constantly do so. What is necessarily true is that if I have an experience then it is mine, Not that I am conscious of it as mine. Pure apperception is a formal condition for experience, Not as a sort of introspection.